Method and apparatus for hosting a network camera with image degradation

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for providing an improved Internet camera is described. The method of keeping a refreshed image from a camera on a user&#39;s system comprises sending the image to the user&#39;s system and refreshing the image periodically. The method further comprises after a period of time, degrading the image.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to images, and more specifically, toInternet based cameras.

BACKGROUND

As the Internet is becoming more prevalent, and users have flat-rateInternet access, the uses of the Internet are expanding. Web cams,cameras that make their images available on the Internet are becomingmore prevalent.

Web cams are useful, and fun. They are becoming more common, for examplein hotels that want to advertise to prospective customers. Web cams mayalso be used in other situations, to permit a user to look at a sitefrom a remote location.

However, web cams have a few problems. In general, the image providerpays for bandwidth. This means that if a user loads the web cam, andthen leaves, or simply fails to close the window, the image provider ispaying each time the image is refreshed. This is disadvantageous to theimage provider. One method of reducing this bandwidth is to only sendimages from the camera if there was motion, or something triggerssending the image. However, determining whether a camera is not sendinga picture because it has not been triggered or because it'smalfunctioning is difficult.

Therefore, an improved method of interacting with a web cam is needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus for providing an improved Internet camera isdescribed. The method of keeping a refreshed image from a camera on auser's system comprises sending the image to the user's system andrefreshing the image periodically. The method further comprises after aperiod of time, degrading the image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in whichlike reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of one embodiment of a network including thepresent system.

FIG. 1B illustrates one embodiment of a network including a contentdelivery network (CDN).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a computer system thatmay be used to implement the present system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system forimage acquisition, processing, and display.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a heartbeat mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a dynamic focus mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of one embodiment of image display qualityadjustment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of one embodiment of image refresh adjustment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of one embodiment of using dynamic routing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and apparatus for improving functioning of an Internet camera(NetCam or Web cam) is described. For one embodiment, a motion sensormay be included in the camera. In that instance, images are only sent ifthey are changing. However, this can be disadvantageous, since one maynot be able to tell whether a camera ceased functioning or there was noactivity in front of that camera. A heartbeat, sent periodically by thecamera, resolves this issue.

For one embodiment, a site may include multiple cameras. For oneembodiment, only a single view is shown to a user. Thus, a method ofdynamically selecting the most interesting of the images would beuseful. For one embodiment, the system selects from among the imagesbased on level of movement within the image.

For one embodiment, a user may open a browser window, to view a NetCamimage, and fail to close it. The system can, over time, degrade theimage, to reduce bandwidth usage. For example, the image size may bereduced. For another embodiment, the image quality may be reduced. Bydegrading the image, the bandwidth requirements are reduced. For oneembodiment, this is based on time. For another embodiment, feedback mayindicate whether there has been activity on the user's system, or if thewindow is covered up. For one embodiment, if the user has opened awindow, and failed to close it, the refresh rate may be decreased. Thisis an alternative way of reducing bandwidth usage. The criteria may bethe same as described above. For one embodiment, the refresh rate isgradually decreased. For another embodiment, the refreshes may bestopped. For one embodiment, for both the image degradation and therefresh slow-down, the user may indicate a preference to reinstate theoriginal image quality/size/refresh rate.

Furthermore, images are sent to the client over a content deliverynetwork (CDN). A content delivery network may be any system thatdelivers network content, and may be an arbitrary control over whichnetwork protocol etc. is used. For one embodiment, data is sent to theclient in two portions. The data is sent as a container, which isperiodically refreshed, and as an image within the container, which isrefreshed more often. For one embodiment, the route taken to the clientaffects the speed of upload, as well as the bandwidth cost. Thus, basedon various factors, the data being refreshed can be rerouted throughanother CDN. This may be done based on feedback from the client system,based on cost, based on the client's IP address, or other data.

Each of these mechanisms is designed to improve performance of thesystem, while reducing the cost and/or bandwidth used by the system.This is advantageous as it reduces the cost of providing NetCams, whileproviding the NetCam experience for users.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of one embodiment of a network including thepresent system. An image server 110 permits access to images obtained byvarious cameras 150 by clients 130. The image server 110 may includemultiple servers, which serve up various images. Clients 130 access theimages through network 120. For one embodiment, network 120 is theInternet. For another embodiment, the network 120 may be a local areanetwork (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or another type of network.Clients 130 receive images served by the image server 110 eitherdirectly, or through an intermediate CDN, such as Akamai, EpicRealm,Edgix, SandPiper, or another CDN.

NetCams 150 may be set up on a plurality of sites. For one embodiment,the cameras 150 are addressable through the network 120. For oneembodiment, the plurality of cameras 150 is coupled to an on-site cameracontrol system 140. The on-site camera control system 140 permits thecameras 150 to be programmed. The on-site camera control system 140, aswill be described in more detail below, sends the images collected fromthe various cameras 150 to the image server 110. As will be described inmore detail below, the on-site camera control system 140 may furtherperform various functions, to validate the camera functionality. For oneembodiment, there is no separate camera control system 140, but thefunctionality of such as system is included in each camera.

FIG. 1B illustrates one embodiment of a network including a contentdelivery network (CDN). The client 130A connects to a server 110A, whichuses CDN 180 to deliver the content to the client 130A. Specifically,client 130A requests a web page or other data from server 110A (shown asrequest 1). Server 110A may serve portions of the requested data (shownas reply 2), and forwards a request to the CDN 180 (shown as request 3).For one embodiment; the URL for the forwarded request may bewww.server.CDN.com/imageID. Alternative formats for the reformatted URLmay be used. The CDN 180 includes a data cache 185 storing the dataserved by the CDN 180. By using a cache 185, the access time to the datais significantly reduced. The CDN 180 looks up the data requested by theserver 110A, based on the redirected URL. Alternatively, the request maybe to a general URL, with the content of the request indicting the databeing requested, and the client requesting it.

The CDN 180 then serves the data to the client 130A, from the redirectedURL. (shown as reply 4). The client 130A receives all of the data,combined by the user's browser. Thus, for example, the frame of an imagemay be delivered by server 110A while a changing image may be servedfrom the image cache 185 by CDN 180. This is transparent to the user,although for one embodiment, the user may see it in the Location box, byseeing the redirected URL. In this way, the load on server 110A issignificantly reduced. Additionally, the CDN 180 generally would have afast connection to the Network, and thus the lag time introduced by therequest and look-up of the data would be compensated for by a fasterresponse and loading time. In general, the types of data served by CDN180 would include image data, video, streaming data of any sort, or anyother types of data that is large.

FIG. 2 is one embodiment of computer system that may be used with thepresent invention. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart, however that other alternative systems of various systemarchitectures may also be used.

The data processing system illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a bus or otherinternal communication means 245 for communicating information, and aprocessor 240 coupled to the bus 245 for processing information. Thesystem further comprises a random access memory (RAM) or other volatilestorage device 250 (referred to as memory), coupled to bus 245 forstoring information and instructions to be executed by processor 240.Main memory 250 also may be used for storing temporary variables orother intermediate information during execution of instructions byprocessor 240. The system also comprises a read only memory (ROM) and/orstatic storage device 220 coupled to bus 245 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processor 240, and a data storagedevice 225 such as a magnetic disk or optical disk and its correspondingdisk drive. Data storage device 225 is coupled to bus 245 for storinginformation and instructions.

The system may further be coupled to a display device 270, such as acathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD) coupled to bus245 through bus 265 for displaying information to a computer user. Analphanumeric input device 275, including alphanumeric and other keys,may also be coupled to bus 245 through bus 265 for communicatinginformation and command selections to processor 240. An additional userinput device is cursor control device 280, such as a mouse, a trackball,stylus, or cursor direction keys coupled to bus 245 through bus 265 forcommunicating direction information command selections to processor 240,and for controlling cursor movement on display device 270.

Another device, which may optionally be coupled to computer system 230,is a communication device 290 for accessing other nodes of a distributedsystem via a network. The communication device 290 may include any of anumber of commercially available networking peripheral devices such asthose used for coupling to an Ethernet, token ring, Internet, or widearea network. Note that any or all of the components of this systemillustrated in FIG. 2 and associated hardware may be used in variousembodiments of the present invention.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that anyconfiguration of the system may be used for various purposes accordingto the particular implementation. The control logic or softwareimplementing the present invention can be stored in main memory 250,mass storage device 225, or other storage medium locally or remotelyaccessible to processor 240. Other storage media may include floppydisks, memory cards, flash memory, or CD-ROM drives.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that themethods and processes described herein can be implemented as softwarestored in main memory 250 or read only memory 220 and executed byprocessor 240. This control logic or software may also be resident on anarticle of manufacture comprising a computer readable medium havingcomputer readable program code embodied therein and being readable bythe mass storage device 225 and for causing the processor 240 to operatein accordance with the methods and teachings herein.

The software of the present invention may also be embodied in a handheldor portable device containing a subset of the computer hardwarecomponents described above. For example, the handheld device may beconfigured to contain only the bus 245, the processor 240, and memory250 and/or 225. The handheld device may also be configured to include aset of buttons or input signaling components with which a user mayselect from a set of available options. The handheld device may also beconfigured to include an output apparatus such as a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) or display element matrix for displaying information to auser of the handheld device. Conventional methods may be used toimplement such a handheld device. The implementation of the presentinvention for such a device would be apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art given the disclosure of the present invention as providedherein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system forimage acquisition, processing, and display. The system includes imagecapture logic 302, image attribute logic 320, and image distributionlogic 350. For one embodiment, the image capture logic 302 may beon-site, in the cameras, or in the on-site camera control logic. For oneembodiment, the image attribute logic 320 and the image distributionlogic 350 may be in the image server.

The image capture logic 302 includes an image capture mechanism 304. Theimage capture mechanism 304 periodically captures an image, and passesit on. The period is controlled by timer 306. The image capturemechanism 304 passes the captured image to the motion detector 312.

The motion detector 312 identifies whether the new image differs fromthe old image. If the images differ, the new image is sent on. For oneembodiment, the motion detector 312 may be located on the camera itself.For another embodiment, the motion detector 312 may be located on theon-site camera control system. For yet another embodiment, the motiondetector 312 may be located on the image server. In that instance, themotion detector 312 is used to determine whether the to update theremote client. In other words, an image displayed to an end-user is onlyrefreshed if the image has changed, as determined by motion detector312.

For one embodiment, if the motion detector 312 is on the remote site, itis used for discovering camera failures. In that case, if the motiondetector 312 has determined that the image is unchanging, over a period,it notifies the heartbeat logic 310, and the heartbeat logic 310 sendsan indicator that the camera is still functioning. For one embodiment,the heartbeat logic 310 sends a compressed version of the image and atime stamp. For another embodiment, the heartbeat logic 310 sends only atime stamp. For yet another embodiment, the heartbeat logic 310 may sendas little as a single bit, indicating that the camera is functional. Thesize of the data sent by heartbeat logic 310 is much smaller than thesize of the full image. Thus, this saves bandwidth.

The programmable/updateable operating system 308 permits the imageserver to update the remote sites through the network. This isadvantageous since every feature of the camera system from the timer, tothe image quality, etc. may be remotely updated. For one embodiment, theupdating occurs in response to the camera, or on-site camera controlsystem, sending a request for data identifying a current version of theoperating system. For one embodiment, the client, camera or cameracontrol system, may periodically poll the server, to determine whether anew version of any of the software is available. If new material isavailable, the data is downloaded and installed by the camera/cameracontrol system.

The image capture logic 302 passes the images and/or the heartbeat tothe image server.

The image attribute logic 320 includes dynamic focus logic 322 and animage degrading logic 330. Dynamic focus logic 322 includes an imagecomparison logic 324, which compares the images received from variouscameras, while interest definition memory 328 defines what is considered“interesting.” For one embodiment, interest definition memory 328includes a hierarchical list of interest values for various things.Interest values may be assigned, for example, to action, people, andpresence of an object of attention. For example, movement over aplurality of frames may be detected, e.g. change over time. For anotherexample, the detection of movement may be combined with the detection ofpeople, e.g. the movement of persons into and out of the frame may bedetected. For yet another example, the presence of an object ofinterest—such as a particular person or object—may be detected.

The image selector 326 determines which images originated by whichcamera should be displayed to a user. For one embodiment, the imageselector includes a hysteresis module, to ensure that focus does notjump all of the time. For example, the image selector 326 is set toswitch images either logically, or periodically. Logically switchingimages, for example, may make sense if there is a particular object ofinterest that is being displayed. As that object moves around, thecamera whose image is being displayed can be switched, to follow thatobject.

For one embodiment, the image selector 326 further may receive feedbackfrom users. For one embodiment, users are provided multiple images, andmay select one of the images to see in a larger window. The selection ofthe users is then input to the image selection logic 326 to help selectthe most interesting images. For another embodiment, users may rate theimages, for example on a scale of one to ten, and this may be used bythe image selector to select images.

The selected image or images are then passed on to the image server, tobe served to the user.

The image degrading logic 330 degrades the image sent to a client. Imagedegrading logic 330 includes a timer 338 and an activity monitoringlogic 340. The timer 338 measures how long an image has been displayedto the user. The activity monitoring logic 340 determines whether theclient has been using the system, whether the image is covered by otherwindows, whether the screen saver has turned on, and other similarindications of whether the user is watching the image. The output oftimer 338 and activity monitoring logic 340 are input to the degradinglogic 332. When a sufficient time has elapsed, or the user has beeninactive for a period, the degrading logic 332 degrades the image. Theimage may be degraded by being resized, using resizing logic 334. Theimage may be slowly shrunk. For one embodiment, the image may bedegraded by decreasing resolution, using pixel logic 336. For oneembodiment, both of these features are slowly moved. For example, theimage size may be changed gradually from a 4″×6″ to 2″×3″ over a periodof time. For one embodiment, the size degrades exponentially, startingslowly, and getting increasingly worse, over time. For example, an imagesent may be decreased for a high quality image of 40K to a lower qualityand/or smaller image using only 5K. This translates into an eight-foldreduction in bandwidth use.

The quality increase request monitor 342 responds to a request by theuser to increase the image quality. For one embodiment, if an actualrequest is received, the image quality is increased to the originalquality, as is the image size. For one embodiment, if activity isdetected, the image quality/size may be gradually increased over time,if activity continues. In this way, if a user fails to close a window,the bandwidth used for the particular user may be significantlydecreased. This leads to a cost savings for the image server.

The image distribution logic 350 includes variable refresh rate logic352 and a dynamic routing logic 362. The variable refresh rate logic 352is used to reduce the bandwidth of the system, while the dynamic routinglogic 362 reduces the cost of the bandwidth being used.

The variable refresh rate logic 352 includes a timer 356 and activitymonitor 358. For one embodiment, the timer 356 and activity monitor 358may be the same timer & activity monitor as used with the imagedegrading logic 330. The refresh rate logic 354 adjusts the refreshrate, based on the elapsed time and/or lack of activity. As describedabove, the refresh rate may be decreased gradually. For one embodiment,after a period or a period of inactivity, the refreshing may be stoppedcompletely. In that instance, an overlay image indicating that therefreshing has stopped may be placed over the image. This indicates tothe user that he or she may restart refresh. For another embodiment, anindication of the slowed refresh rate is placed in or near the image.The user can request, and the reset logic 360 can activate, the previousfaster refresh rate.

The dynamic routing logic 362 permits the images being sent, as originalimages and as refreshes, to be sent through different routes. Generally,images are delivered to a client in two parts, a container page (for oneembodiment HTML) directed to the browser, an embedded image (for oneembodiment JPEG or IPX format) periodically refreshed by the container.For one embodiment, the container page is not refreshed to refresh theembedded image. Thus, the container page can be delivered by one contentdelivery network (CDN), i.e. route, while the image is delivered byanother. For one embodiment, the container is refreshed at a slowerrate. FIG. 1B illustrates one embodiment of a system including a CDN.

For one embodiment, when the container page is refreshed, it candynamically select which CDN is used to deliver the embedded image. Thisselection is made by the routing logic 364. The routing logic 364enforces the selected path(s) 366.

The selected paths 366 are determined, for one embodiment by anadministrator. For smart image-display mechanisms, it is possible tofeedback performance information to the server, to help make this CDNselection. Feedback analysis logic 370 receives this feedback and passesthis data to path setting logic 368, which places the selected paths 366in memory.

For another embodiment, the CDN may be changed based on the client IPaddress, using IP address analysis logic 372. For example, if a companyhas a server hosted at site X, which has good network connectivity withLAN Y, there is little value in selecting a more expensive CDN ratherthan the default CDN of the LAN Y. For another embodiment, the path maybe selected using cost analysis logic 374, to determine which CDNprovides the most cost-effective bandwidth at any time. For example, aCDN may provide a certain bandwidth level at a first price, whilebandwidth above that level is charged at a second price. The costanalysis logic 374 may analyze this data regarding the cost ofbandwidth, and pass the selection to the path setting logic 368.

The path setting logic 368, for one embodiment, may be set to prefercertain data above others. For example, for certain users of the NetCam,the quality and speed of service is of ultimate importance. Other usersmay prefer slightly slower system, for a lower cost. This may be takeninto account by the path setting logic 368, to select a path for routinglogic 364.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a heartbeat mechanism. Theprocess starts at block 410. For one embodiment, this process startswhen the system is turned on, or when the heartbeat mechanism is firstenabled.

At block 420, the process determines whether it is time to capture a newimage. If it is not yet time to capture a new image, the process returnsto block 420. For one embodiment, this is not a loop, but rather attimer that sends an affirmative command (e.g. take picture now.) If itis time to take a new image, the process continues to block 430.

At block 430, an image is captured.

At block 440, the process determines whether the image has changed,compared to a previously captured image. For one embodiment, this is amotion detection, which merely determines the difference between the twoimages. If the difference is above a threshold, then the image isconsidered to have changed. Otherwise, the image is considered the same.For one embodiment, this process may take place within the cameraitself. For another embodiment, this process may take place in theon-site camera control mechanism. In either case, this process is doneon-site, prior to sending an image to the image server, and thusconsuming bandwidth.

At block 450, the process determines whether the image has changed. Ifthe image has changed, the changed image is sent, at block 460. For oneembodiment, the changed image is sent to the image server. For anotherembodiment, the changed image is sent to the on-site camera managementsystem, for further processing. This further processing may includedynamic focusing, as will be discussed below, and/or other types ofprocessing. The process then resets the timer at block 465, and returnsto block 420, to await the next time when it is time to take a newimage.

If the image has not changed sufficiently, the process continues toblock 470. At block 470, the process determines whether the timer orcounter that indicates that it is time for a new heartbeat has expired.For one embodiment, heartbeats occur periodically, if no images aresent. For example, if images are normally sent every 5 seconds, thenevery 30 seconds in which no new image has been sent a heartbeat issent. For another embodiment, a counter tracks how many images have beencaptured but have not been sent. For one embodiment, a heartbeat is sentafter a certain number, f.e. ten, images have been captured but notsent. This counter and/or timer is tested. If the timer indicates thatit is not yet time for a heartbeat, the process returns to block 420.The timer for image capture is reset at block 465, but the counter, ifone is used, for heartbeats is incremented.

If the timer/counter indicates that it is time for a heartbeat, theprocess continues to block 480.

At block 480, the heartbeat is sent. For one embodiment, the heartbeatis a compressed version of the image, including a time-stamp. Foranother embodiment, the heartbeat is another type of data, whichindicates that the camera is functioning. The size of the heartbeat, ingeneral, is substantially smaller than the size of the actual image.Thus, for example, compared to a 40K actual image, the heartbeat that issent may be 5K. The eight-fold reduction in bandwidth used, plus thereduction due to the lesser frequency of the heartbeats, reduces thecost of the image considerably. Thus, even if a heartbeat is sent forevery image (i.e. the heartbeat counter is set to one, or the heartbeattimer is set to the same as the image timer), the bandwidth use issubstantially reduced.

The process then resets the heartbeat counter/timer at block 485, resetsthe image counter at block 465, and returns to block 420, to await thenext image.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a dynamic focus mechanism.The process starts at block 510. At block 520, the system collectsimages from all cameras at a site. For one embodiment, the system inthis process is the on-site camera management system. For anotherembodiment, the system may be the image server, and the images may becollected over a network. For one embodiment, these images include allof the images that have changed, as described above.

At block 530, the process determines whether any new images have beencaptured. As discussed above, for one embodiment, the images may beidentical to the previously captured images. In that case, the answerhere would be no. If no new images have been captured, the processcontinues to block 540.

At block 540, a previously captured image is selected for display. Forone embodiment, if this occurs at the on-site system, instead of sendingan actual image, an image identifier may be sent up. This would furtherreduce the bandwidth usage. The process then ends at block 550.

If, at block 530, at least one new image was found, the processcontinues to block 560.

At block 560, the process determines whether there was more than one newimage. If there is only one new image, at block 570, the one new imageis selected as the image to display, and the process ends at block 550.Otherwise, the process continues to block 580.

At block 580, the new image(s) are analyzed for interest. The potentialfactors of interest were discussed above. For one embodiment, the imageis designed not to change too often. Thus, the image analysis may takeinto account the last time the image changed, and whether the camerasare following an object of interest. The most interesting, and mostclearly logically fitting, image is selected.

At block 590, the most interesting image is selected for display. Theprocess then returns to block 550, and ends.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of one embodiment of image display qualityadjustment. The process starts at block 610.

At block 615, a request for an image is received. For one embodiment,this is received when a user selects a “view NetCam image” or similarbutton or mechanism. The web server that hosts the user then passes thisrequest on to the image server. For another embodiment, the web serverthat hosts the user may directly handle the image requests, in whichcase the following flow is executed by the hosting web server.

At block 620, the selected images are displayed. For one embodiment, theuser may select a single image, or multiple images for display. For oneembodiment, a new window is opened when the user requests theseimage(s), and the new window includes the selected images.

At block 625, a timer is started for the image degradation. For oneembodiment, the timer simply times how long the image has been displayedfor the user. For another embodiment, the timer is movement dependent,and times how long the user has been inactive and/or the image has notbeen on top of the user's display screen.

At block 630, the timer for the refreshing of the image is started. Asdiscussed above, the images are periodically refreshed. This period is,for one embodiment, set by a timer.

At block 635, the system waits until it is time for an image refresh. Ingeneral, the image can only be altered upon refresh. However, anon-refreshed image does not require additional bandwidth.

If it is time for a refresh, the process continues to block 640. Atblock 640, the process determines whether it is time for imagedegradation. As discussed above, this may be a function of user activityor time. If it is not yet time for image degradation—i.e. the user hasnot been inactive for an extended period—the process continues to block645. At block 645, the image is refreshed, and the process returns toblock 630, to restart the timer for the refresh cycle.

If it is time for image degradation, the process continues to block 650.At block 650, the image is degraded. The image may be degraded bydecreasing the quality (e.g. number of pixels) of the image, or bydecreasing the size of the image, or by another means. This sets thequality for future images.

The process then continues to block 655, where the image is refreshed,with the new, lower quality/size. The process then continues to block660.

At block 660, the process determines whether the user has indicated awish to improve the quality of the image. For one embodiment, the imagequality may be increased, to the original level and potentially beyond,by user request. For one embodiment, this may be done at any time whenthe image is available to the user. If the user does wish to improve theimage, the process continues to block 665, and the image quality isimproved for subsequent images. For one embodiment, the image isimmediately refreshed, to reflect the new, improved image quality. Theprocess then returns to block 625, to reset the timer for the imagedegradation. If the user does not wish to improve the image quality, theprocess returns directly to block 625.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of one embodiment of image refresh frequencyadjustment. The process starts at block 710. A request for an image orimages is received at block 715, and the selected image is displayed atblock 720.

At block 725, the timer for the adjustment in refresh frequency isstarted. For one embodiment, the refresh frequency is evaluatedperiodically. For one embodiment, this period may be set by counting thenumber of refreshes that occur. For another embodiment, this period maybe determined by time. The description below assumes the use of acounter. However, one skilled in the art would understand how to modifythis process to use a timer.

At block 730, the refresh timer is started. For one embodiment, therefresh timer determines when the image displayed to the user isrefreshed. For one embodiment, the refresh time is 5 seconds.

At block 735, the process determines whether it is time to refresh theimage. If it is not yet time to refresh the image, the process waits.For one embodiment, this may be an interrupt driven process. Thus, thesystem is not actually performing a processing loop. If it is time toperform a refresh, the process continues to block 740.

At block 740, the counter for the refresh frequency tester isincremented. For one embodiment, if instead of a counter a timer isused, this step may be skipped.

At block 745, the process determines whether the counter, whichindicates it is time to re-evaluate the refresh frequency, has reached apreset value. For one embodiment, every forty-eight refreshes (e.g. 5seconds*48=240 seconds=4 minutes), the refreshes are re-evaluated. It isto be understood that the refresh re-evaluation may occur on everyrefresh, once an hour, or at any other rate. If a timer is used, insteadof a counter, the timer may be tested to determine whether the presettime has been reached.

If the counter has not yet reached the value for re-evaluation, theprocess continues to block 750, and the image is refreshed. The processthen returns to block 730, to once again start the refresh counter.

If the counter has reached the value for re-evaluation, the processcontinues to bock 755. At block 755, the refresh frequency is increased.For one embodiment, the refreshes are completely stopped. For anotherembodiment, the refreshes are decreased. For one embodiment, refreshesare gradually decreased, e.g. from every five seconds, to every 10seconds, to every 20 seconds, etc. For one embodiment, the re-evaluationcounter/timer may also be adjusted, to decrease the refresh frequencymore frequently, as time goes on. For one embodiment, the refreshfrequency reduction is exponential, with larger steps closer together,as time goes. At block 760, the image is refreshed.

At block 765, the process determines whether the user wishes to increasethe refresh frequency. For one embodiment, as the refresh frequency isdecreased, an indication is shown to the user. The user can speed up therefresh frequency by selecting the indication. For example, there may bea button, requesting a faster refresh rate. If the user does not wish toincrease the refresh frequency, the process returns to block 725, andre-starts the timer/counter for the refresh frequency evaluation. Forone embodiment, the timer/counter may be initiated to a lower value, tohave a shorter evaluation period in each subsequent cycle. For oneembodiment, when the refresh frequency reaches a value such as fiveminutes, the refreshes are completely stopped. At that point, thisprocess stops, and waits for the user to increase the refresh frequencyor close the window. However, until the refresh frequency is set to zero(e.g. no further refreshes), this loop continues.

If, at block 765, the user wishes to increase the frequency ofrefreshes, the process continues to block 770. At block 770, the refreshfrequency is reset. For one embodiment, the user can indicate therefresh frequency preferred, i.e. the original frequency, or a slowerfrequency. For one embodiment, there is a slider-bar that the user mayuse to adjust the refresh frequency. For one embodiment, there-evaluation of the refresh frequency is also reset to the previousrate. For one embodiment, the user's intervention resets the system toits “new image” state, and the image refresh degradation proceeds asdescribed above.

The process then returns to block 725, to restart the frequencyadjustment counter.

This process may, for one embodiment, depend on the combination of atimer/counter and user activity. Thus, for example, the timer/countermay be halted, or reset, when the user moves the window in which theimage resides to the front of the screen, or otherwise indicates activeobservation of the image. For another embodiment, the timer/counter doesnot start until the user has been inactive for a period, or if the usercovers up or minimizes the window in which the image resides. For yetanother embodiment, the refresh rate immediately varies with the user'sattention. Thus, there is no refreshes occurring when the image iscovered, and the refresh rate is reset to the “new image” refresh ratewhen the user uncovers the image. In the context of the above flowchart,the frequency evaluation counter/timer is set to evaluate user activityon every refresh, and the user bringing the window forward isinterpreted as a request to reset the refresh frequency.

In this way, the bandwidth used for an image is reduced, if the userfails to close the window in which the image resides for an extendedperiod of time, while maintaining the same refresh rates if the user isactively observing the activity shown in the image.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of one embodiment of using dynamic routing.Dynamic routing is used to reduce the cost and time associated withdelivering an image to a client. The process starts at block 810.

At block 820, a request is received for the image. For one embodiment,data is sent to the client in two portions. The data is sent as acontainer, at block 830, and as an image within the container, at block840. For one embodiment, the container is an HTML page, which includesan image with refresh instructions. For one embodiment, the image is aJPEG or similar image format. For one embodiment, the container uses aJavaScript or similar format to load the image.

At block 850, the system receives feedback from the client system,regarding the image delivery and/or update. For one embodiment, thefeedback indicates how fast the image loaded, what the lag time was,etc. For one embodiment, the feedback may be optional, if JavaScript ora similar active system is used. Otherwise, this step may be skipped.For one embodiment, feedback may also be logged from the image servingsystem, indicating how long it took to load the image, etc. For oneembodiment, the feedback system further uses the data from the user'srequest, such as the user's IP address, as well.

At block 860, the process determines whether the path should be changedfor the subsequent refresh(es) of the image. For one embodiment, thisdetermination occurs when the container is refreshed. For oneembodiment, the container is refreshed periodically, as is the image.For one embodiment, the container is refreshed less frequently than theimage. Thus, whenever the container is refreshed, it may choose todeliver the image for the subsequent refreshes through a different path.

For one embodiment, this determination is made by considering one ormore of the following factors: cost of image delivery, speed of imagedelivery, client location, and client characteristics such as importanceand frequency of viewing images.

If, at block 860, the process chooses not to change the path, theprocess continues to block 870. At block 870, the container isrefreshed, using the selected path. For one embodiment, the containerand image paths are not changed. The process then returns to block 850,to receive further feedback from the user.

If, at block 860, it is decided to send the container and/or the imagethrough a new path, the process continues to block 880.

At block 880, the new path is identified for the container and/or theimage. The new path is set for the container and/or image, at block 890.For the container, the system simply sends the refreshed containerthrough the new path. For the image, the container code is altered, sothat the new path is specified for the further refreshes of the image.The process then continues to block 870, where the container and/orimage are refreshed using the new path(s). Note that the paths for thecontainer and the image need not be the same. Thus, for example, aslower path may be used for the image, and a faster one for thecontainer. Alternatively, a cheaper path may be used to send the largerimage, while a more expensive and faster path is used to send thesmaller container. Similar trade-offs may be made.

The above description provides numerous methods to increase reliabilityand reduce the cost of hosting web cams. This allows a hosting providerto increase the average quality of images, without increasing costs.Thus, using the above techniques, the hosting provider can increase thestandard refresh rate, or standard image quality, e.g. offer 50K imagesrefreshed at 5 seconds, for the same cost as previously offering 10Kimages refreshed at 5 minute intervals.

The methods described above include sending a heartbeat to indicate thatthe camera is functional; selecting one of multiple images to sendand/or display; degrading a refresh rate, an image quality or an imagesize over time to reduce bandwidth use; and sending the image over adifferent path depending on certain factors. All of these methods may beused separately or together, to reduce the cost to the hosting providerand increase reliability of providing such Net Cam images to a user.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made theretowithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are,accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictivesense.

1. A method for displaying an image from a camera on a user's system,the method comprising: executing, by a processor, at a site remote fromthe user's system, the steps of: sending the image to the user's systemvia a network; refreshing the image periodically according to a refreshfrequency rate; maintaining a counter of a number of refreshes that haveoccurred and a timer of a refresh time since the last image refresh, therefresh frequency rate being evaluated based on the counter and thetimer; determining whether the user is inactive, and whether to refreshthe image based on a value of the timer and the refresh frequency rate,and incrementing the counter when the image is refreshed; adjustingimage parameters over a period of time to produce a degraded image inresponse to a determination that the user is inactive; periodicallysending the degraded image, during the period of time, to the user'ssystem via the network when the refresh frequency indicates a time foran image refresh; re-evaluating the refresh frequency rate when thecounter reaches a preset threshold value, wherein the re-evaluation ofthe refresh frequency rate causes the rate to increase, decrease, orcompletely stop refreshing of the image; and increasing quality of thedegraded image upon receiving a user request to improve the quality ofthe degraded image.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein degrading theimage comprises reducing the size of the image.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein degrading the image comprises decreasing resolution of theimage.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user isinactive further comprises determining whether a certain period of timehas elapsed.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the certain period oftime begins when the image was last refreshed.
 6. The method of claim 4,wherein the certain period of time begins when the image was last sentto the user's system.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein determiningwhether the user is inactive further comprises determining whether theuser is using the user's system.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining whether the user is inactive further comprises determiningwhether a screen saver has been activated on the user's system.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user is active orinactive is performed periodically.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: increasing the quality of the degraded image to produce aless-degraded image upon a determination that the user is active; andsending the less-degraded image to the user's system.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein refreshing the image is performed more frequently thandetermining whether to degrade the image.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein determining whether to degrade the image further comprisesdetermining whether a certain period of time has elapsed, wherein thecertain period of time begins upon a determination that the user isinactive.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: increasing thequality of the degraded image to produce a less-degraded image upon adetermination that the user is active; and sending the less-degradedimage to the user's system.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein thenetwork is the Internet.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdetermining whether the user has provided any input into the user'ssystem.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the image is captured at afirst location, wherein the user is located at a second location,wherein the first location is remote from the second location, whereinthe user's system is configured to display the image.
 17. Acomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor, perform a method for displaying an image from acamera on a user's system, the method of comprising: sending the imageto the user's system via a network; refreshing the image periodicallyaccording to a refresh frequency rate; maintaining a counter of a numberof refreshes that have occurred and a timer of a refresh time since thelast image refresh, the refresh frequency rate being evaluated based onthe counter and the timer; determining whether the user is inactive, andwhether to refresh the image based on a value of the timer and therefresh frequency rate, and incrementing the counter when the image isrefreshed; adjusting image parameters over a period of time to produce adegraded image in response to a determination that the user is inactive;periodically sending the degraded image, during the period of time, tothe user's system via the network when the refresh frequency indicates atime for an image refresh; re-evaluating the refresh frequency rate whenthe counter reaches a preset threshold value, wherein the re-evaluationof the refresh frequency rate causes the rate to increase, decrease, orcompletely stop refreshing of the image; and increasing quality of thedegraded image upon receiving a user request to improve the quality ofthe degraded image.